Kangana Ranaut-starrer Tejas will release on 5 October 2022. Directed by Sarvesh Mewara, the film will see Ranaut play an Air Force pilot produced by Ronnie Screwvala.
To be sure, Screwvala, who quit showbiz nearly a decade ago after selling his company UTV Software Communications to Walt Disney, has been scripting a big but quiet comeback to the entertainment business. Officially, the media veteran speaks only of his online education company upGrad and his charitable venture, The Swades Foundation. Still, his production house, RSVP Movies, has been actively involved in producing both feature films and web originals.
In the last few months, a range of web shows across languages, including Netflix’s anthology dramas Paava Kadhaigal (Tamil) and Pitta Kathalu (Telugu), romantic comedy Mismatched, mystery thriller Raat Akeli Hai, and a critically acclaimed short film starring Vidya Balan called Natkhat, have placed RSVP firmly among the top content creators for OTT platforms. Web suits RSVP well given Screwvala’s penchant for non-star-driven, realistic and concept-heavy subjects, a rule he followed even during UTV’s early days in a star-dependent Bollywood when it was also one of the first corporate studios in an industry ruled by family companies.
The web shows were preceded by an impressive start at the box office with war drama Uri-The Surgical Strike that had made over ₹200 crores on its release in 2019 and a moderate success at around ₹70 crores Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer Kedarnath.
At UTV, Screwvala backed smaller films and offbeat narratives, including sleeper hits such as Khosla Ka Ghosla, Life…in a Metro, Mumbai Meri Jaan, A Wednesday!, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and later The Lunchbox, long before Bollywood discovered such high-end, urban themes for multiplex audiences.
Apart from Tejas, RSVP also backs another war drama, Pippa starring Ishaan Khatter and Mission Majnu starring Sidharth Malhotra.